Peter Deming, ASC reteams with Sam Raimi on Oz the Great and Powerful, the prequel to a beloved Hollywood classic.
Adapted from L. Frank Baum's series of books about the magical land of 0z, the new film Oz the Great and Powerful follows young circus magician Oscar Diggs (James Franco), whose life is transformed after a sudden, violent storm sends his hot-air balloon hurtling into the parallel world of Oz. There, he encounters three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who believe his destiny is to become the wizard who will save Oz from the tyranny of the Wicked Witch.
The film reunited director Sam Raimi and cinematographer Peter Deming, ASC, who last collaborated on the hyperkinetic horror film Drag Me to Hell (AC June '09). Both filmmakers were new to 3-D digital capture, and in prep, they tested both the Red Epic and the Arri Alexa with stereo rigs. They opted to shoot with the Epic at 5K and 4:1 compression (for a final 2.40:1 extraction) largely because of the picture's extensive visual-effects work. Deming explains, "The plan was to release a 2K DCP, and this [capture method] enabled the visual-effects team to punch in on frames by up to 50 percent without any resolution loss at all."
Deming's research included attending a cinematography workshop at Sony Pictures' 3-D Technology Center, and he also surrounded himself on set with some seasoned 3-D vets, including stereoscopic supervisor Ed Marsh and main-unit sterographer James Goldman. "Between the two of them, we covered all the bases involving theory, practice and hardware," Deming remarks.
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